


Bedside Manner

by Becca_Lavender



Category: Crazy Ex-Girlfriend (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-25
Updated: 2016-08-25
Packaged: 2018-08-10 21:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7862290
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Becca_Lavender/pseuds/Becca_Lavender
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alternate scene set during 1X18:  What if Paula hadn't interrupted Greg and Rebecca in the hospital?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Bedside Manner

“All eight of them?” Greg asked, a teasing lilt in his voice. Rebecca caught his eye and smiled at him, half sheepish, half mischievous. He smiled back, not looking away for a long moment. She felt the now familiar fluttering in her heart that accompanied a smile from Greg, as she knew each one was a gift that he didn’t bestow on many people. 

What had begun as a somewhat comfortable silence was growing slightly awkward. Over the past ten days, these sorts of silences were usually filled with sex or sleep. Rebecca briefly contemplated feigning fatigue, knowing Greg would gladly flee any follow up to their conversation that kind of sort of intimated that they didn’t want to see other people. However, standing at her bedside still loosely holding her hand, he seemed to have let his guard down a tiny bit, so she decided to press her luck. 

“So it was okay to text you? I realized right after I did it that it might be pushing the boundaries of casualness,” she said carefully. 

“I’m here, aren’t I?” He shrugged and continued, “I mean, I basically am the one who put you in the hospital, so the least I could do was come keep you company. I’m sorry for being a bit…celebratory about your condition before.”

Rebecca rolled her eyes, outwardly at his contention that his prowess hospitalized her, but internally also at his deflection of the deeper meaning of his presence. The game of emotional chicken was tiring even before she was doped up on morphine and antibiotics. 

“First, me not going to the doctor put me here, not sex with you,” she said. “Second, you didn’t know when you came that I was in the hospital because of the UTI.”

“I was hoping I could slip that one by you. The thing is…” he paused, biting his lower lip and searching for words. She decided not to interject and let him complete his thoughts. “Being there when someone needs me is basically the one human interaction I do well. I tend to screw most anything else up by being me.”

She contemplated him for a moment, feeling a pang of sadness at his self-loathing that he was usually so good at hiding through the mask of sarcasm and anger. She realized that in her own haze of insecurities, she was not really paying attention to the messages Greg was sending through his actions when he was playing it cool with his words. He might have said that he wanted things to be casual, yet he spent every moment he wasn’t working with her. While on some level she might have rationalized that he was just seeking out sex by spending so much time with her, he still did things like eat meals with her and always stayed the night, never once distancing himself from her when she would want to be physically close to him when they were sleeping or just hanging out. 

“Thanks for being here,” she said simply. “If you’re going to have a solitary good trait, being there for people isn’t a terrible one to have.”

He looked momentarily startled at her quip, and chuckled softly. “Thanks, you know how to make a guy feel special,” he said. He then moved his hand to push her hair behind her ear again like he did when he first arrived, but this time he leaned forward and kissed her softly, almost chastely, on the mouth. He pulled away slightly, his face still only a few inches from hers and smiled softly for a second before raising back up. Rebecca realized that this was the first time that he had ever kissed her like that, not as a preamble to sex or part of a hook up, but just kissing her for the sake of kissing her.

They were both startled out of their reverie by the sound of a nurse clearing her throat in the background. She was carrying a bouquet of flowers, which she handed to Rebecca. “I’m sorry to interrupt, but I needed to check on your vitals,” the nurse said apologetically, looking at the machines and picking up her chart. “There was also a guy named Josh who looked like he was about to come in and bring these flowers in to you, but he gave them to me instead in the hall to deliver.” Greg looked at the flowers warily, and Rebecca wasn’t sure what to make of Josh’s gesture, but she worked to keep her features neutral. Greg moved away from the bed to allow the nurse access, sitting in a chair in the corner, not meeting her eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes never leaving the flowers. After writing a few things down in her chart, the nurse looked up and a look of recognition crossed her features. 

“I know you! You were here with your father on Thanksgiving,” the nurse said enthusiastically. Greg’s eyebrows shot up, and he looked like he wanted to hide. A look of realization flashed across Rebecca’s face, as she realized exactly why Greg sought her out on Thanksgiving. He had really needed a friend that night. She was glad she was able to be there for him that night, but she felt guilty knowing that she almost instantly shut him out the instant Paula had discouraged their friendship. 

The nurse was a cute, perky brunette, and given that she likely saw dozens of patients per day, it seemed Greg had made quite the impression on her. The nurse snapped Rebecca’s chart closed and sighed, a slightly wistful smile on her face. “After your heroics for your father, you know you could have gotten the numbers of any of us nurses. My friends will be sad to hear you’re off the market. We don’t get too many cute, single, noble guys passing through.”

Rebecca glanced over to see Greg’s reaction, and he just looked confused. Rebecca briefly wondered what Greg would be like if he finally figured out females found him attractive, but decided to squelch that worry for another day. She was also curious just what gesture Greg had made that the nurse admired so much, and made a note to press him about it later. 

“Okay, you’re all set. I’ll talk to the doctor, but my understanding is you should be able to go home tomorrow,” the nurse said. “Is there anything you need before I go?”

Rebecca shook her head no, and the nurse left them alone with a quick smile and wave to Greg. 

“Do you want me to leave so you can try and thank Josh for the flowers in private?” Greg asked, looking tense.

“Do you want me to go give the nurse your number? She seemed cute,” Rebecca asked in response.

They stared at each other, and Rebecca felt that same sinking feeling she felt on her couch when they agreed they weren’t exclusive. 

“I asked first. No fair answering a question with a question,” Greg said. He drew in a long breath and then sighed when she didn’t respond. “I did notice that neither of us denied the nurse’s assumption that we were together.” 

Rebecca bit back a smile that Greg was the one who went ahead and spoke first. 

“I also have my phone right beside me, and I haven’t texted Josh,” Rebecca said. Greg seemed to take in her words, and nodded once, his body relaxing slightly. Rebecca felt lighter, like a small weight had been lifted. She set the flowers down on the side table, not giving them a second glance. 

“Okay,” Greg said neutrally, and pulled out his phone while moving his chair closer to her bed. “Why don’t you pick up that phone, and finally let me finish you off in this round of Words with Friends?”

“I’m still convinced you’re cheating, Serrano,” Rebecca said, reaching for her phone with a smile.


End file.
